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NICOLE
NICOLE (S/N: NCL-3235-1) is the name of an Artificial Intelligence that serves as a personal assistant, teammate, and friend of the members of OMEGA. Biography Discovery NICOLE came in first contact with the Home Universe in May of 3235. The situation of her arrival was somewhat of a surprise as there was no indication of what she was doing there or what her intentions were. In this month, the man-sized Jumpgate known as PROJECT STARGATE, located in Castle Acorn, began to cycle on its own. Under armed guard, the Jumpgate was watched for any signs of intruders. The individual that came through the gate appeared to be the double of Sally Acorn, though she was dressed far differently than her EUS-0 version, was more or less similar in size and build, and was covered with blood and burns. The double, who could not speak, did not even seem to be fully aware of her environment. However, she did hand out a small case towards the armed soldiers, before collapsing. The double was rushed to the hospital to try and keep her alive, mostly because she was a view into a world they were unaware of. The double however, died due to her injuries. NICOLE however, was still seemingly operational. However, the casing would not open, locked tightly seemingly of its own volition. For several days UNSC technicians attempted to try and get into the device, though it would not budge. By accident, speaking kindly to the machine seemed to unlock it. It was at that moment that the technicians believed that this was an artificial intelligence of some form. However, NICOLE was built in an alien manner. On cursory inspection, she contained none of the earmarks of AIs. She did not possess a Riemann Matrix, meaning that she was not created from tissue such as a brain of a donor. She was completely artificial in the true sense of the word. She did not actually speak until very late May. The first words she spoke to the technicians was not in English, but a language that could not be understood. In fact, to translate, another AI specifically skilled in linguistics needed to be brought in to understand what she was saying. It took seventy two hours to gain a basic understanding of her linguistic structure. The first phrase that she spoke in English was 'where is she?', indicating the double that had died. Upon hearing of her mistress' death, she was upset, but upon seeing the Sally of EUS-0, she immediately perked up, thinking that she was the one who had come from her home universe. This version explained quickly that she was not her mistress, but NICOLE pledged her loyalty to her immediately. In the time that passed, NICOLE learned quickly about her new home, poring through thousands of years of history, starting with the Forerunners up to the modern day. Before the end of June, she had a good idea of how her new home worked. Operations with Humanity In October of 3235, NICOLE had first contact with OMEGA while on Alpha Centauri IIb. Her initial experiences were short, but she was friendly. Though she could not explain what her earlier life was like, she knew that it was filled with war. For better or worse, she was back in a situation where she knew how to operate, and the men and women she worked with were far friendlier. She was curious about Humans, as they were allied with the people that she thought were their sworn enemies. NICOLE was extremely useful against the short occupation of the Terran Dominion in 3235, whereupon a small strike team had entered Home Universe and attempted to attack Earth, thinking that the forces present around the planet were the sole Human military compliment. She coordinated with UNSC teams, keeping them updated as a combat-focused AI. Tapping into security feeds all around New Mombasa, an East African city where the Dominion's invasion force was concentrated, she could pinpoint enemies for the Marine forces as they further cleared the city. When the Dominion gave way to the Zerg, a parasitic alien life form that had followed the Terrans, she was at a loss, now facing something utterly alien. After the defeat of the Terran as well as the Zerg forces with the help of a small group of somewhat friendly aliens called the Protoss, NICOLE was taken to EUS-39 after an unexpected Crossover occurred. While in this new EUS, NICOLE continued her usage as Sally's personal AI up to returning back to Home Universe two years later in 3238. Marshall's Deception In April of 3239, NICOLE was sent with Captain C.J. O'Connor by Sally Acorn in a means of assisting him in fleeing from the Office of Naval Intelligence, who were now in the process of attempting to apprehend the Captain for what was believed to be compromising top secret information. Sally, aware this was not the case, sent NICOLE with him. NICOLE was instrumental in his escape from Mobius, and subsequently Earth as well along with Major Abigail Hera, a woman who apparently intended to help the Human escape. NICOLE accompanied the Captain to Talahan V, a planet in the Eta Cassiopeia system to lay low. While on this planet, NICOLE was captured by the inhabitants of a small sovereign state known as the Kingdom of Blaine. While trapped in this city-state, NICOLE was scrutinized. Afraid that these rebels were attempting to steal data from her systems for their own means, thinking she was a UNSC AI, NICOLE locked access off and sealed her casing, only dropping her defenses once being in safe hands again after the Captain completed a jailbreak with the assistance of mercenary Allen Roan of Vanguard PMC. However, ONI would locate the renegades on the planet easily after Marshall determined the location of their travel. In the escape from Talahan V, NICOLE would break into and utilize an abandoned UNSC forward operating base by using its point defense turrets to shoot down a UNSC craft that deployed Hunter-Killer teams. In an effort to get farther away from Marshall and head to a location that would not be expected. Chris had determined that the information locked in his head from the Chaos Emeralds was Forerunner in nature, though he could not be sure. The Coelest system was chosen as a means to locate a device to extract this information, though Chris and NICOLE knew that this was the star system hosting a Halo ring, Installation 05. It was believed that the Forerunner nature of the ring would be an excellent place to hide, as corridors snaked for thousands of kilometers and would be a good location to shake their ONI trails. Somewhere on this ring was a way to read this data. The first location they visited was called the Silent Cartographer, a map room that would help determine key locations on the ring, though NICOLE was unaware that this location was visited four years prior by Sally. From the Cartographer, the location of the Library, a vast repository of Lifeworker data was found, though access to the Library was only found through a set of anti-gravity gondolas that stretched from what was once one of the Quarantine Zones of the surrounding areas. Inside the Library, NICOLE was with Chris as he was pulled into what could only be described as a pocket of existence separate from the real world, though there was no evidence that either was inside Slipspace. NICOLE was astounded by how much information she was gaining through the Forerunner systems, unaware that she was touching the very edge of the Domain, though she would never learn what it truly was as she was afraid to push into something that she had no knowledge about. Chris on the other hand had spoken to an imprint of the Librarian, a Forerunner lifeworker that unlocked the raw gaes, or genetic command, which would force the Captain to witness the location of something that would be able to fight the Prisoner. In real-time, the pair emerged ten days later, though the experience was perhaps an hour at most. Despite being shocked by the whole ordeal, NICOLE helped the Captain escape by leading him out of the facility while avoiding the UNSC forces that had set up bases of operation specifically to hunt the Human. NICOLE would lead him out of the Library literally by accidentally leading the Captain through a corridor meant for service drones that blasted him from the structure thousands of feet above the ground, though the Human was transported away by the Monitor of the facility to a beach, safe from harm. Here, Chris had a specific request for NICOLE. He asked her to take the form of Sally so that he could see her again. NICOLE was aware that the young man had been troubled by recent events and fulfilled his request, appearing as the princess in a billowing dress. Chris embraced NICOLE's form, believing it fully to be Sally. From here, NICOLE came to the conclusion that there was something seriously wrong from the way he acted, though she also formed a sense of protectionism to him. It wasn't love in a romantic way, but in a way that she would never let him come to harm. She had seen him at his weakest, and was saddened by it. Together, the pair would leave Installation 05 by stowing aboard a UNSC freighter headed for Earth. For a full day, the pair had stayed in a water tank. In the dark, NICOLE heard him muttering, and she calmed him by singing songs to him - songs that she had heard from her old home and from Mobian folklore. It kept him sane, until the pair emerged aboard the Romulus, where they remained until their rather fast escape several days later. The pair had taken a lifepod and blasted away from the vessel, immediately dropping from the Slipstream in High Earth Orbit. The Captain, edging closer to madness, disturbed by his visions, vented the boat on the behest of his visions, nearly killing him. NICOLE attempted to find out what was wrong and came to the conclusion that his mind had been so damaged by the Forerunner geas that it now wanted to shut itself down to end the strain. The lifeboat was later picked up by the UNSC Burro, where a disgraced Admiral Andsworth was commanding the vessel. Here, she rested, finding some form of solace. She conversed with friends who understood where they were coming from and that Marshall needed to pay for what he was doing, but the reason for which was unknown to them. Andsworth explained to NICOLE that Marshall was trying to gain resources from Mobius, though the President would not explain why. For attempting to look into it, Andsworth had been punished and sent to the Burro. ''NICOLE, horrified that a one-sided war would be waged against Mobius, urged that they needed to step in and stop Marshall immediately. However, another problem would present itself: the crew that had helped NICOLE on their journey had been arrested, and with the help of Rouge the Bat, who had been on the Captain's side since the beginning, informed them that they were being held in an ONI facility in Tokyo. From there, NICOLE understood that they were on their way to a final confrontation, though they needed to be at full strength to do so. Resolved, she accompanied the Captain down to the planet's surface to begin the final act of this play. Personality As an AI, NICOLE had access to incredible amounts of information at a moment's notice. This meant that she had some degree of superiority as most AIs do. However, what made NICOLE unique was that she had a distinct connection to corporeal beings that lived as non-AI. She understood that there was a difference, but she never tried to think of herself as anything different than what she was. She understood that she was an AI, and understood that she was essentially immortal and omniscient, but that the people she worked alongside were special to her. Though she had very little memory of her home, NICOLE had vague memories of a war between Mobians and Humans. The fact that she was in a world where they worked together made her appreciate her new home far more. This was a place where the enemies of old stood together as one. She cared deeply for Sally, which possibly stemmed from her prior connection to the double that she originally was paired with. Even after the double's death in 3235, she still had a major connection with her adoptive owner and went out of her way to protect her and give her as much help in the field that she could. However, it was with Humans that she formed as much a connection as in her old world, they were enemies of her creators. She trusted a select few unconditionally and gave them unrestricted access to her systems, further solidifying her trust. Behind the Scenes NICOLE within the ''Chaos Chronicles has a different origin story than that of her comic counterpart. Within the comics, NICOLE came from the future, was created by Rotor the Walrus, and was made for Sally, who had been made Queen by that time. NICOLE within the Prime universe was sent back in time for the present Sally to find, but was unable to speak of the future thanks to a firewall installed by Rotor. During her time in the present, she has had the desire to become a real living being, which has even influenced her own appearance at times. NICOLE within the Chaos Chronicles differs greatly from her comic counterpart. Insted of being from the future, she comes from an alternate universe. Unlike Prime NICOLE, there is no way to tell who had constructed her since she was unable to give any information regarding her creator or even her purpose. Unlike NICOLE Prime, she had been involved in fighting and was more than ready to be used as a tactical AI in space, in the air, or on land. NICOLE in this universe also does not seem to have existential issues that her Prime counterpart seems to have. She is not concerned about becoming a real person, instead recognizing that she is an AI and that there are benefits to her position. She feels less pain about it and simply does the best job that she can do. In some ways this is better, but indeed worse than Prime NICOLE, who wished to see what living was truly like. I recently became aware of the differences that occurred post-reboot for the character of NICOLE, now known as Nicole the Holo-Lynx, who apparently was the imprinted consciousness of a young girl by the name of Nikki, who was uploaded by a grieving father by using an instrument called the Digitizer, which sounds very similar to a Composer from the Halo series. She only thinks that she's an AI when she's actually a digital recreation of the dead girl. This AI thought process appears to be a way to connect the character to her previous incarnation in the comics. It's interesting to see this character become closer to a Halo AI as the means to create this version of NICOLE is similar to how a Halo AI is created, where upon death, the brain tissue of a donor is scanned by a computer to recreate mental pathways, called a Riemann Matrix, since a true AI that mimics Human mental patterns is effectively impossible artificially, though the fact that Nikki retained her full personality means that the Digitizer is effectively a Composer analogue. Trivia *Nicole is more than capable of mimicking people that she has met in the past by taking on their physical appearances. This could be used to her advantage, but it is clear that NICOLE has herself set limits on what she would do with this skill. *She also has the ability to mimic the speech of others. *Nicole mainly appears to wear a toga of some sort, but can alter her appearance like any other AI. *Using hard-light emitters, NICOLE can better manifest herself in the real world as a 'solid' object. *The fact that she does not possess a Riemann Matrix means she technically cannot suffer from Rampancy, and also technically does not have a set lifespan. *She very likely came from the same world as Abigail Hera. List of Appearances * The Terran Incident (First Appearance) * Infested! * Warpath * Deception Category:Character Category:Artificial Intelligence Category:Mobian Category:AI